www.makemegenius.com– Full of ingredients to make your child a genius. “Don’t make me read, make me understand “

Heart and Lungs

Introduction 1 The human body 2 What does the heart do? 3 Heart key facts 4 Heart health 5 What do the lungs do? 6 Lungs key facts 7 The circulation 8 Pulse and exercise 9 Pulse rate data 10 How do I look after them? Heart and lungs quiz Links for further study Unit 5a Keeping Healthy: The Heart and Lungs Year 5 Science by Mrs. Chapman

Human body Your body is very special. We need to look after our bodies to stay healthy. Although we may look still and quiet on the outside, our body is constantly moving and changing inside. Can you find the brain, the heart and the lungs?

What does the heart do? Your heart, made of muscle, pumps blood around your body via blood vessels (tubes). The heart is inside your chest, protected by bones - the ribs and breast bone. When the heart pumps, it beats - we measure the heartbeat via the pulse - easily found on your wrist and neck. Blood carries oxygen to the parts of the body that need it.

Heart key facts Your heart is about the size of your fist. In most adults it beats about 70 times a minute (70 bpm). In children and small animals, the heart beats faster. The first heart transplant was in 1967. You cannot normally live for more than 5 minutes if your heart stops beating. Heart disease is the number 1 killer in the western world! Doctors examine your heart by taking the pulse (to see how fast it’s beating), ECGs (special electrical rhythm charts), x-rays and scans including ultrasound (like an unborn baby scan).

Heart health Man having a chest x-ray Heart on chest x-ray Ultrasound output ECG graph output

What do the lungs do? Your lungs receive the air you breathe in through your nose. When you breathe in, the lungs puff-out or inflate, and deflate when you breathe out. From the air, they take the useful part - oxygen (a gas), and convert it for use in the body via the bloodstream. The blood swaps carbon dioxide (the waste material) for oxygen in the lungs. This is why the lungs are often said to convert gases.

Lungs key facts You have 2 lungs. Your lungs are protected by your ribcage. Close-up, they look like a wet sponge. The left lung is smaller - to accommodate your heart (see the x-ray showing the heart). Your lungs are particularly vulnerable to breathing-in nasty substances - toxic chemicals, smoke from fires and cigarette smoke all damage your lungs.

The circulation Blood (with oxygen and nutrients) goes round our bodies via the heart. We call this circulation (from the word ‘circle’). The heart sends blood to the lungs first to collect the oxygen from the air we’ve just breathed-in, then it goes to where it’s needed (this is shown in red). The blood then returns to the lungs via the heart (this is shown in blue) with carbon dioxide - the gas that we breathe out. This is described as a figure of ‘8’.

Pulse and exercise When you exercise parts of your body need an increased blood supply (more oxygen and nutrients) so your heart beats faster. You also breathe faster - to get more oxygen into your lungs, and to get rid of the carbon dioxide. You also get hot and sometimes flushed (or red faced). What parts of the body need an increased blood supply when running? Take your resting pulse and produce a bar chart of your group’s results. What is the most common range for pulse?

Thanks

If you also want to share your own or your kid’s presentation(ppt) please send it on info@makemegenius.com

www.makemegenius.com– Full of ingredients to make your child a genius. “Don’t make me read, make me understand “